"A rattling on the road, the chomping of hooves on the patched paving-stones, and the frantic whinnying of a horse herald the sudden arrival of a cart as it turns a bend in front of you. There is a moment of confusion as the horse jumps and comes to an uneasy stop, and the cart-driver - a man dressed in greens and browns, with a large mess of blood on his shoulder - raises a weak hand in either friendship or surrender. The blood appears to be coming from the barbed arrow still dripping on the seat beside him."

If the players encounter Fernall, he will be driving his horse and cart southwards towards Lunaris, with an arrow-wound in his shoulder. He will have badly bandaged it, and it will still be bleeding profusely. A successful DC10 Wisdom (Medicine) check will stop the bleeding, but he will insist on going back to Lunaris to heal.

If the players escort him, he will tell them along the way that he is a simple merchant who makes the run up to the farmsteads near Glaston on a weekly basis. Earlier, he had been driving back when he was ambushed on the road by a group of eight goblins, who attempted to rob him, but ran away when his horse kicked one of them.

He claims to have overheard from them that they intended to take him to ‘the Hall’, which can only mean Lord Gladsvain's Hall. He begs them to help him back to Lunaris and speak with Bairtha, who will no doubt reward them for their kindness. He will drive them straight to the Castle of the Moon, ask them to wait for a few moments, and will speak to Bairtha alone before bringing the players in.

If the players did not assist Fernall, Bairtha will still mention the attack on the merchant as the source of her information.